Trying to Count My Blessings...

But it's hard. I just talked to Patrick, who is as comfortable as he can be in Cleveland, TN.

I'm looking at the calendar, and except for Thanksgiving week, I can't remember the last time he was home. He came home Saturday, Nov. 19. He was home through Sunday, Nov. 27 (actually, early Monday Nov. 28 is when he left for Cleveland). Before that....sometime in October, maybe? I know he was in Greenville for his birthday, as Dan, Janet and Rachel were here...

It's sad that I can't remember the last time my husband was home.

We've been doing a lot of traveling, and will be doing more with the upcoming holidays--hopefully some of the car trips we can actually be in the same car!

We did have a great week while he was off, and had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We went to Carrabelle, and spent time with my parents, and Mee Ma & Pee Pa came to visit as well. I don't see Mee Ma & Pee Pa as much as I'd like--I want to see them after the 1st of the year, maybe when things settle down with Patrick's job (they've promised him a place in Greenville by the 1st of the year, and I'm going to hold them to that!).

I brought Shaka a stuffed pheasant with "real honking noises" that I think I had fun playing with more than Shaka did. He killed it, then it was revived somehow, and then killed it again (meaning, no more "real honking noises"). I guess that's for the best. Listening to the "real honking noises" when you're trying to sleep would not have been all that much fun. Mom says that he's still playing with the bird, though it no longer makes noise.

We had two turkeys--a smoked & an oven baked turkey...both were excellent (as usual!). Had the requisite side dishes: the cranberry sauce from the can, so you get the can marks down the side of the cranberry gelatin (how else do you know where to slice it, if not for those marks?); we had mashed potatoes with real whole milk; a yummy sweet potato casserole, complements of Mee Ma; the ever-present green bean casserole with lots of french-fried onions (the only kind I really like, and only on green bean casserole, and only on Thanksgiving); two kinds of stuffing--the dressed up kind with onions & celery, and then, just for me, regular stuffing made with chicken broth. That's it. Nothing else. Nothing fancy. Just plain, and yummy. I love Thanksgiving--the time that you pull out the good tablecloth, the real cloth napkins. Mom uses the good china--the set that she got while Dad was in the service, and it's hand-painted, done by the same Japanese family that does the china for the Emperor & has done so for, well, a really, really long time. We use actual glasses for the drinks...always a danger with me, as my track record with glass isn't a good one. We use "plastics" at home. Like glasses, but plastic. And yet, I still manage to break an occasional "plastic" every now & then. Back to Thanksgiving....when the food is ready, it goes on the table, and there's the fun part of deciding which way to pass the food. Invariably, someone gets stuck holding two dishes, not sure which way they're going.

Then when the main course is done, it's time for pie! We had two pumpkin pies & a cherry pie this year...I can't vouch for the pumpkin, as I'm not a pumpkin fan, but the Reddi-whip was good. We even taught Shaka the joys of Reddi-whip. At one point in feeding the dog pressurized whipped cream, I thought I was going to wet my pants, I was laughing so hard. I may have, a little. But those kinds of memories--I wouldn't trade them for anything. I still giggle when I think about the dog & the Reddi-whip.

It was so great to see Mee Ma & Pee Pa--they're both looking great, and Mee Ma still hugs as if she's trying to squeeze you to Kingdom Come (like I say--when she hugs you, you know you've been hugged!). We didn't do much--just sat around & talked, and just enjoyed the company.

Mom & Dad are good--still trying to sell the house...not sure why it hasn't sold, but everything happens in its own good time, so who are we to question the why and wherefore of things. The house really did look great--they've done a lot of work in the yard. Mom's lantana were blooming like crazy, and the butterflies were just all over the place. I guess I forget that they live in a zone where yes, you can garden in November! Of course I come back home, and find that my wishbone flower & persian shield are, in fact, dead. No reviving them...they're gone. So it was nice to go to Carrabelle, and see blooming flowers. We looked for alligators, but didn't see any. Saw a stick, thought it may be an alligator...but nope. Just a stick.

I think that's about all the news for now....we'll be going to Knoxville this weekend to celebrate a late Thanksgiving gathering with Patrick's family, so at least I'll get to see Patrick in the next few days! I'm counting the hours...

Patrick's Whereabouts

I'm not sure how much "tiny typin" Patrick will be able to do to update everyone, but we found out today that his next tour of duty will be in Cleveland, TN (near Chattanooga). It's not Greenville, but it's still closer than Mt. Sterling, KY. According to MapQuest, it's only about 4 hours away--so we're getting closer! And, Patrick was told that this will only be until the end of the year (sarcastic emphasis on "only" is mine all mine)...when we're told that something may happen in Greenville. I just keep reminding myself that once we get back from Florida, there are only 4 weeks until Christmas, and after that, maybe he'll be home again.

*Sigh*

I'm starting to show his picture to the cats so they don't get confused when he's here all day on Monday.

The good news is, he is able to take Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday off, and of course Thursday & Friday he's got off (as do I) for the 35th Annual Chauntellebration...or, as some people refer to it "Thanksgiving." (Although that's a fairly appropriate name for the holiday, too.)

I know this is brief, but I wanted to let everyone know what's going on in our corner of the world!

For those who are counting: I'm up to 8 days on the St. Joseph prayer...one more day to go! I'm not sure what happens if 9 days goes by without an offer on the house. Do I start over again? Do we have to have him dug up & replanted??? That seems awfully rude to Joe...hasn't he been through enough already? Then again, we've not had any offers and he's been in the ground for a bit. Maybe I'm not doing it right. Do you have to be Catholic? Do I need to think about converting to sell the house?

"T" minus 3 days...and counting!

As far as we know right now, Patrick is coming home this weekend. He'll work Friday, then go to Knoxville, spend the night, and come home on Saturday. Only three more days!!!!

I've been praying to St. Joseph (the statue of whom is buried in the yard in Finger, face down, per the instructions)...today was the 7th day of prayer. Now, the instructions do say "morning" but I've been saying it at night. Hopefully that won't throw St. Joseph off too much. I've also been including Mom & Dad's home in the prayer, too, and they've had 2 couples look at their home since Sunday....so I take that as a sign that it's working. You're supposed to say the prayer for 9 days...so I've got 2 more days to go. Everyone--keep your fingers & toes crossed for us!!!!

We are going to go ahead & renew our rental agreement for another 6 months. We like the apartments and where they're located, and we really don't want to move again unless it's to a house...so maybe in the next 6 months the house will sell!!! And, the longer we wait, the more equity we've got, so maybe we can talk about dropping the price (did I really just utter those words????) and still get the money we want from the sale.

It's finally gotten to be autumn here--it was in the 70s on Monday & Tuesday; around 64 today; and will be around 54 tomorrow and I think the Weather Channel is forecasting around 50 on Friday. The trees have pretty much turned--I hate that Patrick missed his first fall in Greenville...hopefully there will still be some trees with their leaves, and maybe we can go up to Paris Mountain--it's not too far, and that way he can look at some fall color.

Had some exciting weather in Middle Tennessee--Dan & Janet are fine and have reported no damage...other than all their yard work got washed away (Mom, Dad--I think you can relate!). Maybe they can steal some dirt from Marcy & Marty Terwilliger.

There was a tornado that touched down & did some damage in Paris, TN--North of Jackson--but no damage in Jackson, and I'm assuming Finger is fine, too. I know that the Coles would have called if, oh, say a tree fell on the house. We had absolutely no weird weather here...we did get some much-needed rain, but I didn't even hear thunder (and they were forecasting thunderstorms), which I'm a bit disappointed about. Patrick said that the weather in Mt. Sterling was a bit troublesome, but he promised that if anything were to happen, he'd go into the self-contained cleaning apparatus in the hotel room.

I noticed going to work the other day that Allison Krauss & Union Station were going to be at the Bi-Lo Center in G'ville...and so checked out the date--it's December 9. Which is odd....I've been seeing ads for MONTHS for The Wiggles, for the Mark Stewart Chapman & the Mercy Tour (or whatever it's called...I'm not in to Contemporary Christian music--not that there's anything wrong with it. I just prefer more "Dirty Deeds" than "How Great Thou Art." Now if you throw in the Louvin Brothers' "Great Atomic Power," then I'm all fer it. It's hard not to like a song about the atomic bomb wiping out humanity while in near-perfect harmony.). But this was the first time I'd seen AKUS on the fancy electronic billboard. Even though we'll miss that particular show (we'll be celebrating Christmas early in Nashville with Dan, Janet & Rachel...and, to be honest, the good seats were already sold out!) it's nice to know that we're in a place where acts like that will come & play...

We're not sure where Patrick will be stationed next...we're really hoping Greenville. Actually, we're hoping that they don't have a pressing need for him next week...if not, he's taking off Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Unfortunately, I don't have vacation time, so I can't take the time off, but it'll be nice to have a house husband to come home to!!!

Speaking of vacation time, I witnessed a small miracle today. I checked the mail, and lying in the dark recesses of the mailbox was a white envelope from the State of Tennessee. For those who have not been kept up-to-date on the adventure, here it is in a nutshell: I left the State of TN on June 30. I left with 29.7 hours of vacation time, of which I would be able to have that paid out to me, as I'd earned it, it was mine, and I was taking it with me. Now, you'd think that when they processed my last paycheck, they'd just tack that on. You'd think that, and you'd be using logic, and you'd be wrong. Well, the small miracle that I was a part of today--the check arrived. Which is good--it was a nice chunk o'change...but it's taken....4 1/2 months of me calling about every 2-3 weeks, asking where my check is. So, that saga is over and done. Now what will I focus my attention on???

I've been trying to think of meals I can make in our crock pot, especially if its going to stay cold. I'm thinking a nice bean soup would be good....

Happy Wednesday!

Well, let’s see…I talked to Patrick last night—we were hoping that he’d be able to come home this weekend, but it’s not meant to be. He’ll be in Mt. Sterling, KY for another week (see, Patrick, I know where you are. I’m not sure why I always say “Lancaster” when I talk to you….).

I guess I’m glad that they like Patrick so much. He came into a bad situation: the site manager before him wasn’t very well liked by Hoffman (I think that’s the plant that he’s at…Patrick, forgive me if that’s wrong—you can’t expect me to pay attention to everything you say!), and from what I understand, left a whole lotta stuff that needed to be done. Like placing orders from a year ago. But, Patrick came in, started getting things straightened out, called the folks when their orders came in—and heck, has even been coming in every single day! The woman that Patrick has been training to run the site is very smart, and catches on very quickly, and we were hoping that she’d be good-to-go by Friday. But, they’d like Patrick to stay there for another week, just to be sure. And I can understand that—they had someone they didn’t like, didn’t do a good job, and then a new person comes in. So Hoffman is thinking, “Here we go again.” But this time, the person is good, and works hard, and gets the stuff they need, and is nice and pleasant. Then they hear that he’s going to be leaving, and yet another person will be taking his place, and I expect that IDG wants to reassure Hoffman that the person who will be there at the site, continuously and hopefully without any further change, is going to continue to do a good job as Patrick had been doing. So, as I said before—good for Patrick. I can think of a few words that I have floating around in my brain, but I’ll try to keep them to myself.

So, I will continue to soldier on, bravely. Luckily I have the cats to help me through this rough time.

Seriously, it hasn’t been too bad—I’ve been trucking up to Knoxville on the weekends—he drives 3 ½ hours, I drive 3 ½ hours, we meet in the middle. His sister has been gracious enough to let us stay at her house & eat her food. Last Saturday, Patrick and I sorta just hung out together, bopping around Knoxville, and just being together. To the family that we didn’t see—thank you for understanding, and giving us the time to just be together. It’s hard to share him when I only get a few hours with him on the weekends!!!

The driving to Knoxville hasn’t been bad, and with fall upon us, the colors are absolutely gorgeous. I think we could have used a bit more rain—but even with the dry weather, the leaves are really putting on a show. It’s been several years since we’ve lived in a place that gets fall color, and I’m really enjoying it. Coming through the mountains south of Asheville, where you can look out over the valleys and just see golds, and reds, and oranges—it really does take your breath away. I keep meaning to take our camera, but I’m not sure how safe it would be to be snapping pictures and trying to drive at the same time. (Don’t worry Mom—I’ll keep both hands on the wheel, at the “10” and “2” positions!)

I’m looking forward to Turkey day—we’re planning on driving down to Carrabelle to spend weekend with my folks, and hopefully Mee Ma & Pee Pa can join us. I really enjoy being at their house—I know it’s for sale, and I hope it sells soon, but it’s such a nice place, and you can really relax and just watch the world go by…I’ll miss it when they sell it—I know what it represented to them. The flip side is, they’ll be moving closer to me, and I can’t help but be excited and hope it happens soon!

Dan & Janet did check out our house in Finger—they said it looked good, just needs to be pressure washed a bit, but that’s to be expected (that area did get a lot of rain after we left). They planted St. Joseph, head down & facing the house (I think that’s the direction he’s supposed to be in)—they’re using the same statue that a friend of Janet’s used, and had good luck with (what was it—she sold her house in 10 days? Or got the offer that sold the house?). I’ve been faithfully saying the prayer—though not in the morning…I’ve been saying it at night. Hopefully that doesn’t jinx the whole thing! The directions did say “morning” so maybe I ought to change my prayer time.

I’ve arranged to have the heater guy fix the heater—he said all he needed was a way in, so I gave him the lockbox code. Once that’s done, I think all the major stuff that we needed to do will be done. I tell ya, being in a small town does have its advantages sometimes—it’s nice to call up the heater guy’s wife, say your name, and she knows exactly who you are….and you do the whole arrangement on the phone, and they’ll send you a bill. They trust that you’ll pay them, and you trust that they’ll do a good job, and somehow I know that it’ll all work out just fine.

So that’s been my adventurous life for the past couple of weeks. I’ll try to be a little more regular with the postings….I know everyone is just on pins & needles waiting to see what I do next….